Readiness and Relationships across the Transition to School: Children’s Experiences and Interactions between Home and School Contexts

Starting primary school is a significant milestone that brings opportunities and challenges for children, their families, and their teachers. Children vary significantly in their ability to adapt into the classroom environment, and intervention efforts require greater understanding of the malleable factors that contribute to this variation. This thesis addresses two areas of interest in the field: (i) the concept of ‘readiness’ for school, and (ii) how relationships contribute to a successful school transition. Building on recent research, policy and practice developments, this thesis aims to examine how a wider conceptualisation of ‘readiness’ that encompasses interactions between children, parents and teachers might improve our understanding of the process of starting school. The thesis is comprised of four studies, with data collected across the UK and Ireland, straddling several approaches including the use of observational measures within longitudinal designs, the gathering of children’s perspectives, an examination of children’s relationships with both mothers and fathers, as well as the combined influences across the home and school environments. The first study challenges previous research on children’s school readiness characteristics by spotlighting school wellbeing and prioritising children’s voices. The study tracked 206 children across a 12-month interval from first to second year of primary school, gathering ratings of children’s wellbeing, prosocial behaviour, and academic self-concept at both timepoints. Parent and child reports of children’s wellbeing showed similar temporal stability and converged over time; informants’ reports showed a modest but significant correlation in second year. Early wellbeing predicted later self-concept and prosocial behaviour, but the reciprocal associations were not significant. The study demonstrates the importance of early wellbeing, documents the early onset of gender differences in wellbeing, and provides evidence of the validity of including young children’s perspectives in research. The second study is the first of two to draw from a longitudinal study of first-time parents. Here, the focus is on early relationships, examining semi-structured play observations of father-toddler and mother-toddler dyads at 14 months and 24 months for 185 families, which were coded for dyadic displays of positive affect and reciprocity. For a subset of 77 children, these interactions were examined as predictors of teacher ratings of children’s school readiness at 48 months. Mothers showed more positive affect than fathers at 14 months and within-couple associations in the quality of interactions increased over time. Mother-toddler reciprocity and maternal positive affect at 14 months each predicted father-toddler reciprocity at 24 months. Father-child reciprocity and mothers’ positive affect predicted children’s school readiness. These findings depict a dynamic pattern of influence across family members, and the significant role of fathers in fostering school readiness. The next study addresses a significant gap in research on parents’ adaptations when children start school, particularly fathers. Five-minute speech samples were gathered from parents (93 mothers and 68 fathers) and coded for four themes related to parents’ positive and negative experiences during the school transition (Emotional Reaction, Experiences with the School, Relationships and Support, and Routines and Responsibilities). Experiences with the School elicited predominantly positive talk, Routines and Responsibilities elicited predominantly negative talk, and Relationships and Support and Emotional Reactions elicited mixed talk. Compared with fathers, mothers showed more (positive and negative) talk about Relationships and Support; in addition, maternal but not paternal transition experiences were associated with psychological distress and household disorder. Within couples, except for Routines and Responsibilities; parents reported individual rather than shared experiences. The novel coding of speech samples in this study shows the significant, mixed, and independent impact of the transition on mothers and fathers and highlights the importance of considering coparenting effects when children start school. The final study examines the interplay between home and school influences on young children’s adaptation to school, mostly studied separately to date. Secondary data analysis was conducted on three waves of the Irish birth cohort study Growing Up in Ireland (N = 7,507 children, 50.3% male). The quality of child-adult relationships – rated by mothers and fathers at age 3 (T1) and by teachers at age 5 (T2) – were examined as predictors of age 9 (T3) measures of behavioural adjustment and academic achievement (indexed by reading assessments and by children’s self-reported academic self-concepts). Results indicated small and comparable independent effects of children’s relationships with mothers, fathers and teachers on school adjustment and achievement. Moderation analyses showed a cumulative risk pattern for negative effects of conflictual child-mother / child-teacher relationships and a contrasting compensatory pattern for the positive effect of close relationships with either mothers or teachers. Multiple socialisers interact to influence children’s developmental trajectories for school adjustment and achievement, and children are likely to benefit from strategies that support and integrate the roles of mothers, fathers, and teachers. Taken together, these studies provide novel insights into the processes that contribute to the success of the school transition. Findings challenge the current conceptualisation of school readiness. Firstly, by highlighting the critical role that child wellbeing plays in early educational outcomes, it places the spotlight on a relatively new and understudied child characteristic that could significantly enhance the efficacy of practice and policy efforts during the early school years. Secondly, current findings showcase the substantial adaptations that parents face and how these are linked to the family context. To comprehensively understand school readiness, we need to consider the family context during the school transition and turn the emphasis away from within-child to encompass family-wide school readiness. Further, children’s relationships pose significant influence on school readiness and adjustment that is documented across mothers, fathers, and teachers and prevalent for both preparing and supporting children’s school adjustment. Close and responsive adult relationships are a central component for the transition process and are malleable to early support and interventions. These findings have significant theoretical, empirical, and practical implications that can help children and their families as they navigate this important developmental milestone.Cambridge Trus